My TT axles have the EZ lube spindles with the grease fitting on the end. It's time for me to repack the bearings. Is it safe to hand pump new grease through the fitting while slowly turning the wheel, or do I need to remove, clean, and repack the bearings by hand? If so, what's the purpose of the grease fitting on the spindle? I bought my camper brand new a little over a year ago. Thanks.

My take: every one says to repack the bearings by hand but, I have had two trailers (each one seven years), with the easy lube bearings. I did it once a year using a grease gun. I would jack the wheel and as I was pumping the grease, I would turn the wheel. Once I saw the old grease coming out, and saw the new stuff right behind it I would stop. I never had a problem and put thousands of miles on both trailers. On the second one, I had them repacked by a shop in it's sixth year, and the mechanic said that the bearings were in good shape.Jack l

plasticmaster wrote:My TT axles have the EZ lube spindles with the grease fitting on the end. It's time for me to repack the bearings. Is it safe to hand pump new grease through the fitting while slowly turning the wheel, or do I need to remove, clean, and repack the bearings by hand? If so, what's the purpose of the grease fitting on the spindle? I bought my camper brand new a little over a year ago. Thanks.IMHO, the bearing grease fittings are a waste of money, useless in actually properly greasing your bearings, and in fact, could cause a major problem inside the brake drum should the grease get pushed out past the seal. The "bearing buddy" type of bearing greaser is more designed for trailers that do not have braking systems and are subject to being submerged in water (i.e. boat or jetski trailers). When the trailer is run into the water, water can seep in past the wheel seal and get into the bearing area. This will cause rusting and possible bearing failure. These greasing systems were designed to allow the owner to inject grease into the bearings and hub to possibly flush out the water. If there is no air space inside the bearing/hub area then no water can get inside.On a travel trailer, you do not have the problem with water intrusion (or if you do, you need to stop parking your trailer in a lake, stream or river). They put these greasing systems on travel trailers because basically (and by mo means am I accusing you of this) people are lazy and don't want to have to either take the trailer in for service or spend the couple of hours needed to do bearing maintenance. They are told to just pump a few shots of grease into the grease zerk, and away you go. Problem, the grease does not fill the cavity inside the hub, so only the outer bearing gets some of the grease. The inner bearing gets little or nothing. Another problem to look at is that some think that if a few squirts of grease are good, then a LOT of them should be great! Eventually, you will reach the point where the entire cavity is full of grease. Then the grease has no place to go. As it doesn't compress (at least not under the pressures you are subjecting it to) it has to go someplace. Out the back through the space between the Spindle and the grease seal is the weak link.Once the grease gets past the seal, it is now inside the brake drum. And as that grease gets slung around the inside of the drum, it makes your brakes ineffective and possibly cause a fire due to the grease getting too hot from the friction inside.So, after that dissertation on greasing your bearings...Short answer, pull the bearings, clean and inspect them, regrease with good grease, and put them back together. Your peace of mind in knowing that everything is good to go will take one less worry off your mind as you are heading down the road.

Although we have the same option on our axles I still do them the old fashion way, I feel better that I had a chance to see the wear and tear for myself. Good news is that if they are properly done, wheel bearing service will last several years before a full cleaning and repacking is required. Nothing wrong with doing it yearly but with top notch, high-temp grease I find it isn't required annually for our heavily used TT. They are rarely exposed to harsh elements where we RV most. Every Spring after de-winterizing our rig I take all wheels off and inspect brakes and bearings, I'm on our 4th camping season since the last wheel bearing service and all still looks great. Although I never tried, I would believe the Easy lube option works for many but there have been a plethora of reports where seals were blown out allowing grease to reach brakes. It's good that your are checking bearings as sometimes they leave factory improperly greased.

Really bad advice from Bager The easy lube system is a good system It uses a double lip seal on the axle shaft to prevent grease from entering the brake area. When you grease through the zerk the grease goes through the center of spindle and out a small hole just beyond the inner bearing and before the seal. As you slowly grease and turn wheel the grease is forced through the innner and outer bearing and you will see it coming back at you around the spindle , zerk area then stop . The key thing here is pump slowly and turn the wheel also when pumping . The first time it may require a half tube of grease or more .

Really good advice, badger. The problem with your response is that the subject is not about the Bearing Buddy system, it is about the useless grease fitting installed in the spindle.

EZ lube spindle and bearing repack question | Good Sam Community

83 Replies

mike-s
Explorer
Jul 14, 2017
LarryJM wrote:
Notice the two ridges on the lower left (lips) each that form a sealing surface on the axle shaft.
The second lip is there to prevent dirt intrusion. It does almost nothing to keep the grease in.

Dexter specs the same seal whether it's EZ-Lube or not. Dexter replacement parts.
mike-s
Explorer
Jul 14, 2017
Mont G&J wrote:
why doesn’t the axle manufacturers use seals like those on every car and truck rear axle that work just fine in keeping the gear fluid from leaking
Those systems aren't pressurized like an EZ-Lube hub is when pumping grease in. And, the axle seals work just fine if you hand pack the bearings so the seal doesn't experience that pressure. Next question.
LarryJM
Explorer II
Jul 14, 2017
Mont G&J wrote:
I’m puzzled…If EZ lube system Seals fail as frequently as many of you believe they do, then why doesn’t the axle manufacturers use seals like those on every car and truck rear axle that work just fine in keeping the gear fluid from leaking into the drum and on the brake shoes?? How about the front and rear seals on the transmission and engine? I guess what I don’t understand, if you cannot trust EZ lube seals, how can you ever be at peace driving your 400 horsepower tow vehicle knowing the failure of anyone of those seals could result in a repair bill in the thousands?

It seems your pic of what you think is an EZ-lube seal is not the actual dual lipped EZ-lube type seal, but what you showed is a single lipped bearing seal. Below is a pic of the dual lipped EZ-lube type seal made by Dexter:

Notice the two ridges on the lower left (lips) each that form a sealing surface on the axle shaft.

Larry
Lynnmor
Explorer
Jul 14, 2017
Trailer spindles are not a precision ground hardened part like you would find in the auto industry. The trailer bearings are adjusted with some clearance and that does not keep the seal perfectly centered. Trailer hubs are subjected to high temperatures from the brakes being an integral part. Cars and trucks do not use the grease fitting for a good reason, the builders know better.
Huntindog
Explorer
Jul 14, 2017
Mont G&J wrote:
I’m puzzled…If EZ lube system Seals fail as frequently as many of you believe they do, then why doesn’t the axle manufacturers use seals like those on every car and truck rear axle that work just fine in keeping the gear fluid from leaking into the drum and on the brake shoes?? How about the front and rear seals on the transmission and engine? I guess what I don’t understand, if you cannot trust EZ lube seals, how can you ever be at peace driving your 400 horsepower tow vehicle knowing the failure of anyone of those seals could result in a repair bill in the thousands?

It's an apples to oranges comparison.You are using oil seals as an example... They do fail as well but.... In most cases will not result in making the brakes fail. hydraulic brakes will usually still function in a diminished capacity IF oil gets on the friction material. Electric brakes need the magnet to clamp onto the drum, and the resulting friction causes the brake shoes to engage the drum, and that friction is the braking force.. Grease on the magnets, and brake shoes SEVERELY reduces braking capacity That sort of takes it to a different level than just a mechanical failure, that only costs money.
Mont_G_J
Explorer
Jul 13, 2017
I’m puzzled…If EZ lube system Seals fail as frequently as many of you believe they do, then why doesn’t the axle manufacturers use seals like those on every car and truck rear axle that work just fine in keeping the gear fluid from leaking into the drum and on the brake shoes?? How about the front and rear seals on the transmission and engine? I guess what I don’t understand, if you cannot trust EZ lube seals, how can you ever be at peace driving your 400 horsepower tow vehicle knowing the failure of anyone of those seals could result in a repair bill in the thousands?
LarryJM
Explorer II
Jul 13, 2017
Huntindog wrote:
First off, Bearing Budies are a different system than EZ lubes. Bearing buddies are a product for boat trailers, and it actually works as advertised, unlike the EZ lube system.

Here are the facts on how this works.

The zerk feeds a hole that will attempt to grease the inner bearing. How well this will work depends on the condition of the seal/hub interface, and the skill of the person doing it.
He needs to slowly turn the wheel while steadyling pumping the grease... It is working blind as you cannot see what is really going on in there. Is the fresh grease getting evenly distributed in the bearing? Or are spots being missed/skipped? Is the seal really in good shape? or is grease seeping past it onto the brakes?
One simply cannot be sure. All seals age and leak at some point. Sometimes a brand new seal is nicked during installation... Without superman vision, one cannot know.

But the potential problems don't stop there. In order to grease the outer bearing, the grease must travel thru the inner bearing, and the hub cavity to the inside of the outer bearing. This takes a considerable amount of grease... Several tubes each time for a dual axle TT... That's right EACH TIME... The video on Dexters site is misleading. The dirty grease that they show exiting the hub is only from the outer bearing. The dirty grease from the larger inner bearing is still in there some where.... Some of it may have even made it to the inside of the outer bearing!!
Without xray vision, one cannot know exactly where it is... So one must keep pumping and pumping and pumping,, until a second section of dirty grease emerges. Even then one cannot know if all the dirty grease is purged. It is a long trip for the grease, and it probably will not travel evenly around the hub..
With all of the pumping that must be done, a compromised seal will likely fail greasing the brakes... But hey, I hear that well greased brakes never wear out.:B Another caution: There has been at least one report of the grease hole in the spindle that feeds the inner bearing having a burr from being drilled at the factory. This was nicking brand new seals when the drum was installed, and causing the grease to get on the brakes. The fix was an old hot rod trick. Use a dremel to chamfer the hole.

So you see it is not as simple as the marketing makes it out to be.

Now knowing all of the facts, if one still wants to use this "feature" I wish them well.

And visually ....

EZ lube axle exit hole:

Larry
Huntindog
Explorer
Jul 13, 2017
First off, Bearing Budies are a different system than EZ lubes. Bearing buddies are a product for boat trailers, and it actually works as advertised, unlike the EZ lube system.

Here are the facts on how this works.

The zerk feeds a hole that will attempt to grease the inner bearing. How well this will work depends on the condition of the seal/hub interface, and the skill of the person doing it.
He needs to slowly turn the wheel while steadyling pumping the grease... It is working blind as you cannot see what is really going on in there. Is the fresh grease getting evenly distributed in the bearing? Or are spots being missed/skipped? Is the seal really in good shape? or is grease seeping past it onto the brakes?
One simply cannot be sure. All seals age and leak at some point. Sometimes a brand new seal is nicked during installation... Without superman vision, one cannot know.

But the potential problems don't stop there. In order to grease the outer bearing, the grease must travel thru the inner bearing, and the hub cavity to the inside of the outer bearing. This takes a considerable amount of grease... Several tubes each time for a dual axle TT... That's right EACH TIME... The video on Dexters site is misleading. The dirty grease that they show exiting the hub is only from the outer bearing. The dirty grease from the larger inner bearing is still in there some where.... Some of it may have even made it to the inside of the outer bearing!!
Without xray vision, one cannot know exactly where it is... So one must keep pumping and pumping and pumping,, until a second section of dirty grease emerges. Even then one cannot know if all the dirty grease is purged. It is a long trip for the grease, and it probably will not travel evenly around the hub..
With all of the pumping that must be done, a compromised seal will likely fail greasing the brakes... But hey, I hear that well greased brakes never wear out.:B Another caution: There has been at least one report of the grease hole in the spindle that feeds the inner bearing having a burr from being drilled at the factory. This was nicking brand new seals when the drum was installed, and causing the grease to get on the brakes. The fix was an old hot rod trick. Use a dremel to chamfer the hole.

So you see it is not as simple as the marketing makes it out to be.

Now knowing all of the facts, if one still wants to use this "feature" I wish them well.
GrandpaKip
Explorer II
Jul 13, 2017
Evidently my Lippert EZ lubes were pretty much filled by the factory. I could not put more than 5 or 6 pumps into each one before grease came out the front. All my brakes work and lock up when tested. When I do my unwintering maintenance next year, I'll pull the drums and inspect the bearings. By then, there will be over 20k miles on the camper. Between inspections, I will use the zerks with no reservations. Grease is fairly inexpensive, so l don't really mind filling the cavity with it.
I do the same with my boat trailer and no problems.
mike-s
Explorer
Jul 11, 2017
RinconVTR wrote:
mike-s wrote:
So, you don't have any factual data to back your claim. Just as I suspected.

You're funny.

"Factual data" as you call it does not exist. What do you want from me? A video? A Process Specification signed by one of my Professional Engineer cohorts? Yeah right. You still wont believe it.

YOU build the "factual data" yourself by physically trying a procedure that a cave man could follow.
You claimed "Fact is, the EZlube zerks are not used by any OEM and has no relation to leaky seals." - Easily disproved, by many of those here who have them installed from the factory (and have found that the factory also pumped grease past the seal and into the brakes).

You claimed "Good, working seals can retain significant pressure." I quoted the spec from a well known manufacturer for common axle seals - 10 psi. You claimed "It takes more effort and pressure to push grease thru a zerk fitting than it does thru the EZlube system!!!!" That's emphasizing a complete non-sequitur because the only thing that matters to the discussion is how much it takes to push grease through and out the outer bearing vs. the seal. But you can't provide any reference to how much pressure it takes to do that, even though you claim it to be less than through the zerk.

You claimed "The rubber cap for example, will relieve pressure in the closed system long before the seal ever will," showing you really don't even understand how the system works - it is not, and isn't designed to be, a pressurized system, except during the brief time while replenishing the grease, at which time the cap is off.

And, for the topper, you claimed "It is 100% impossible to blow out a good working seal via EZlube zerk," when there are lots of examples of exactly that happening if one does only a minimal amount of searching, and even the manufacturer warns to only pump grease slowly while the hub is moving, because of exactly that problem.

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EZ lube spindle and bearing repack question

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